


With this Ring

by Carmenlire



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Established Relationship, Fluff, Happy Alec Lightwood, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Marriage Proposal, Post-Episode: s03e16 Stay With Me, Shadowhunter Culture, Wedding Rings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 12:04:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18343334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmenlire/pseuds/Carmenlire
Summary: He wasn’t lying to Lorenzo, wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest. It’s an old shadowhunter wive’s tale for a reason. Their kind loves once and loves fiercely and Alec had known the minute he’d started striding down the aisle at his disastrous wedding-to-be with Lydia that he’d found his person, the one man he would love above all others and for eternity.He hopes to hell Magnus feels the same, that he sees a future with Alec in twisting shades of gold and blue.Or, if Alec's going to propose, then he needs the perfect ring.





	With this Ring

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is based on [this tweet](https://twitter.com/prayformalec_/status/1113516127760474113) by becca aka prayformalec_!

Alec looks down at the box in his hands. He feels the weight of it, almost overwhelming but so damned good.

It’s the weight of expectation, anticipation.

The rings shines dully in the late evening light. Alec’s in his office and it’s a rare quiet moment. Most of his shadowhunters are out on patrol and Alec had been working through an _extensive_ Excel spreadsheet when his thoughts had snagged on the box hiding in his middle desk drawer.

The Lightwood family ring was always dangled over Alec’s head like a particularly tasty carrot. He remembers his grandfather wearing it on his middle finger like the most prized jewel. He’d died when Alec was fourteen but Alec had always remembered spending a few weeks in the summer languishing in his family’s home in Alicante. 

Even so young, that summer reprieve had been chock full of lessons. His grandfather had been an imposing man, a stalwart shadowhunter to his core with little patience for frivolity. Still, he’d had a special fondness for Alec and Alec still holds a few good memories from his summers in Idris.

Mornings had been reserved for humanities lessons. While the Academy had touched on Machiavelli's _The Prince_ \-- in its original Italian-- and Sun Tzu’s _Art of War_ , their curriculum had focused on works that were directly applicable to being a shadowhunter and Head of the Institute one day. One of his grandfather’s only pleasures had been reading. He’d loved the classics just as much as paperback romances and he’d made sure to have a reading list ready for Alec as soon as he arrived on the estate every summer.

Alec remembers cool mornings spent the library whose shelves were fit to bursting with books ranging from antique weapons catalogs to Jane Austen’s entire collection to old, leather-bound family journals.

After a quick lunch in town or in the kitchen, Alec would spend his afternoons training. While his grandfather wasn’t quite the soldier he’d been a few decades ago, he’d been one of the best in his class and was still a master instructor. When Alec had first been debating on his weapon of choice, his grandfather had ran the gambit but after trying dozens of different weapons, Alec had finally decided on the bow.

It was pure coincidence that his grandfather had also favored archery.

Spending several hours training, Alec had then gone upstairs to his room, showered, and come down to dinner at seven sharp every evening. There, he’d been taught the proper way to eat soup, which fork was used for which course, and how to converse with a Clave official on any topic of their choosing.

It had been daunting and exhausting but a part of Alec had thrived. He’d been sent off to the parlor while his grandfather enjoyed his after-dinner glass of scotch and Alec had used that time to wander around the room, looking at family pictures and heirlooms that had been passed down through the generations.

Sometimes, he’d just go over to the open french doors that overlooked the balcony and stand at the edge of the room, letting the warm summer breeze wash over him.

He’d think about how fast summer always seemed to pass and how he only had a month until he’d be back at the Academy. The summer he turned twelve, his thoughts had been preoccupied with a boy in his class and the way that when he laughed, it was like the whole damn sun was hidden in his smile.

Alec hadn’t let his thoughts go much further. Even in his own mind, he shied away from the truth, that inevitable truth that he knew-- deep down, instinctively-- would go over about as well as a grenade.

In Idris for the summer, alone with just his grandfather and housekeeping staff, Alec was as free as he could be. While his grandfather was strict and had very definite ideas of how a Lightwood should behave, Alec loved it there. Alec had learned a lot from the gruff, brusque man including just how important family was and the importance of heirlooms that signaled just how high the Lightwood's pedestal was. Alec doesn't remember ever seeing his grandfather without the sturdy family ring on his hand, a symbol to everyone of his place in the world.

Those summer nights, after twenty minutes or so, his grandfather would come into the room with a maid and teach Alec different dances. There was the waltz, the quadrille, and a few country dances specific to Idris that Alec painstakingly learned. The maid, just a few years older than him, was an unwitting friend of Alec’s and distantly he wonders what she’s doing now.

The house had been shuttered when his grandfather had died and the staff let go, Robert’s mother having passed on almost fifteen years prior. He can still see the way pristine white cloths had covered the furniture, the house staff hurrying around making arrangements.

Robert and Maryse had been in the middle of things, barking orders. Robert had been given the ring after the funeral ceremony and Alec remembers the way his father had clutched at the ring like it was a living thing.

Catching Alec studying him, Robert had said, _This ring will be yours someday, Alec_. 

He’d winked. _I won’t make you wait until I’m dead and buried in the City of Bones, though. This will be yours when you find your perfect wife. Any girl would be love to have the Lightwood family ring in her possession. She’ll know just what an honor it is that you’re bestowing upon her_.

Alec had stared at the ring and all of a sudden, it wasn’t a warm memory of his grandfather twisting it around his finger in thought. No, as Alec looked at the ring, it felt like a noose was tightening around his neck. 

He remembers thinking that he’d never want the damned ring, that he’d rather throw it into the fucking ocean that give it to some girl that he could never love, not really and not in the way either of them deserved. The truth is, by the time Lydia had come around and Alec had proposed, the very thought of the ring had been too much for him and he'd resolved to buy her a ring whenever he had the change. Now that he thinks about it, he never did give Lydia a ring, which he supposed is all well and good for how that engagement turned out.

 _What a difference a decade makes_ , Alec thinks.

As he looks down at the ring now, Alec doesn’t feel that crushing shame and guilt choking him. No, instead he sees possibility and a future so bright he can hardly stand it.

Things might be shit now but Alec swore ages ago that he’d never leave Magnus’s side and he can’t think of another way to show his boyfriend that than to become his husband.

 _Husband_.

Just the word makes Alec catch his breath, nerves and hope wrapping around each other tight enough to make him dizzy.

He wasn’t lying to Lorenzo, wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest. It’s an old shadowhunter wive’s tale for a reason. Their kind loves once and loves fiercely and Alec had known the minute he’d started striding down the aisle at his disastrous wedding-to-be with Lydia that he’d found his person, the one man he would love above all others and for eternity.

He hopes to hell Magnus feels the same, that he sees a future with Alec in twisting shades of gold and blue.

With this ring, Alec wants Magnus to know the love and pride that’s become a constant hum under his skin. He wants everyone to know Magnus owns his heart and that he’s proud to stand next to the love of his life, for the rest of his life.

Still though, as Alec starts to think about, something starts to niggle in the back of his brain.

Alec would have to be a fool not to realize-- belated but eventually all the same-- that maybe Magnus wouldn’t want his ring-- _this_ ring. He’s heard Magnus talk before, about the way shadowhunters sneered at him and his friends, the way they broke plates and hid their prized possessions in their prejudice and ignorance.

Maybe, Alec wonders, his family ring would be another ugly reminder to Magnus of shadowhunters and their hateful, ignorant behavior. Too traditional, too possessive.

With that thought in mind, a piece of Alec-- a very small, tiny piece-- is disappointed. While he now sees nothing but pride and security in the metal, he realizes that he’s fortunate in that regard.

Angel knows he doesn’t want to give Magnus any reason to say no. If Magnus didn’t like the ring-- if there was a piece, no matter how minuscule, that was wary to accept-- Alec didn't want to taint the start of their forever with an archaic, admittedly one-sided display of his love.

He sighs a little, sweeping a thumb over the ornate ring before closing the box with a snap that rings with finality.

Tossing the box back into his drawer, Alec turns towards his computer and starts looking up New York jewelers.

 

It’s an exhaustive mission but Alec’s never been one to back away from a challenge. He goes to a dozen jewelers in the city looking for the perfect ring. While his wealth can’t quite measure up to Magnus’s, the Lightwoods have always been affluent and money’s practically no object.

Alec visits a few places by himself, wary of inviting anyone else to join him lest they try to steer him in a different direction.

He has a vision in his head. He’ll know it when he sees it.

Still, it takes longer than he’d thought to find it. He finally brings in Jace and Izzy when he finds himself studying yet another glass display hopelessly. Texting his siblings the next address on his list for the afternoon, he’s a little surprised to see them standing about on the sidewalk outside the jeweler’s when he arrives.

“What are you doing here,” he asks, approaching them.

Izzy rolls her eyes, glaring at him. “You text us an address with no message? We thought you’d run into a group of demons and needed help. We ran over here.”

“Speed runes activated and everything,” Jace adds, looking a little miffed that there are no demons to kill.

Shaking his head impatiently, Alec brushes past them, towards the door of the jeweler’s in Midtown. By the looks of their website, it’s a small, family run business that was established over a century ago. While Alec’s hopes have severely dampened over the past weeks of fruitless searching, there’s something about this place that makes him think that his luck might just be turning.

“There are no demons here. I just need your opinion.”

“On what,” Jace asks absently as they walk into the jeweler’s, a cheery little bell signalling their entrance.

“Oh, Alec,” Izzy breathes as soon as she steps inside, turning to face him. “We’re at a jewelry store.”

She blinks rapidly, and Alec sees the sheen of tears just forming as Isabelle realizes why they’re here.

“Don’t you start,” he warns, though he can’t stop a grin from stealing over his face. “Or I’ll start too and Jace will have to dry both of us out.”

Alec’s barely finished speaking when Izzy steps closer, wrapping tight arms around him, hugging him so hard that Alec’s lungs constrict.

“I’m so happy for you, mi hermano, and I can’t wait to hear how Magnus reacts.”

“Wait,” Jace asks incredulously. “You’re proposing?”

Rolling her eyes, Isabelle pulls way from Alec to punch Jace in the shoulder. “Of course he’s proposing. Why else would Alec ask us to meet him at a jeweler’s?”

Alec watches as the light bulb flares over Jace’s head before he starts grinning and pulls Alec over to him for a hard hug and rough pat on the back. “Congratulations, Alec. This is huge!”

Standing back, Alec rubs the back of his neck in a nervous gesture that’s betrayed him since he was little. “Thanks, man. Do you guys think he’ll say yes?”

Resting his hands on Alec’s shoulders, Jace’s fingers press into Alec’s skin, grounding him as he makes an effort to glare right into his skull. “There is no world where Magnus Bane doesn’t want to marry you, Alec. The entire shadow world knows just how gone he is over you.”

“Jace is right for once,” Isabelle says, voice certain. “Magnus loves you, Alec. He’s going to say yes.”

“Let’s hope so,” he mutters under his breath. Taking a deep breath, Alec shakes the nerves out as best he can before looking up at his siblings who are staring at him with a mix of joy and pride.

“Okay, I’ve been searching all over the city for a ring and you two are here for moral support.”

“Got it,” Jace says easily before wandering over to one of the nearest display cases. “Anything we should be on the lookout for?”

Alec’s voice is distracted as he replies, “No, not really. I’ll know it when I see it.”

That might be getting old but Alec clings onto the hope stubbornly.

The three of them spend the next hour looking over the jeweler’s selection. Alec looks at rings, talking with a sales associate about what he’s looking for.

No matter that this is the twenty-third place he’s been to this month, Alec still feels indescribably happy to explain that he’s looking for an _engagement ring_.

He’s just about given up hope when he comes to the last section of the rings display. Jace and Izzy are across the store bickering as his sister tries on a bracelet but Alec barely pays them any mind as his eyes sweep over the last half dozen rings.

His eyes sweep over one before jumping back. Studying it, Alec tries to move on again but something won’t let him go.

With a sharp nod towards the ring in question, Alec straightens as the jeweler carefully takes it out of the case, placing the display on top of the glass counter.

Reaching for it, Alec feels something restless climb up his spine as he picks it up, shifting it so that the light bounces over the white gold band. His eyes narrow as he considers the design before a thought pops into his head.

Isabelle and Jace, seeing Alec carefully studying the ring, wander back over and as he explains what he’s thinking, Isabelle’s eyes widen before she starts nodding enthusiastically.

What follows is a long, arduous consultation as Alec commissions a ring to fit his specifications. While the jeweler didn’t have anything like it in stock, they’d prided their family’s business on being willing to provide custom orders.

Alec watches as the jeweler sketches a design, pointing to a dozen areas he wants changed. There’s back and forth but finally, finally Alec pulls the sketch closer and takes in every detail.

It’s perfect.

He places his order and Jace claps him on the back as they all stand up from the meeting, declaring that this special occasion called for a special dinner.

They all go to their favorite steakhouse on the Upper West Side. Alec can’t quite remember the last time he’d spent such a pleasant evening with his parabatai and sister. The drinks had just kept on coming and the food had been delicious. As Alec walks into his apartment, the home he shares with Magnus-- the love of his life, the very beat of his heart-- a little unsteadily with flushed cheeks and bright eyes, Alec can’t quite believe his good fortune.

It’s late when he gets back and Magnus is already in bed, ancient text that he must’ve been translating for a client sprawled over his chest, moving in time to steady, deep breaths.

Carefully, Alec lifts the book and marks his boyfriend’s place before setting the book down on their bedside table. Crawling in on his side of the bed, Alec shifts closer to the warmth radiating from Magnus, laying his head over his heart.

Distantly, Alec thinks that there’s no better place in the world than right here, as close as he can get to his boyfriend-- and if he has anything to say about it, his soon to be husband.

 

A couple of months later, Alec gets a phone call from the jeweler’s letting him know that his ring is ready for pickup. He tries to focus on work but within the hour, he’s heading over to the jeweler’s.

He’s greeted by the same salesperson who’d helped him earlier and as he sees her set the blue satin box onto the counter, something in Alec rises, the sheer emotion in him staggering as it squeezes his heart in a vise grip.

Slowly, he reaches out and thumbs the box open, the breath stilling in his chest as he sees the finished product.

 _By the Angel_ , he thinks. _It’s perfect_.

The white gold band reflects the overhead lights. Along the length, there are a dozen miniature sapphires circling around the band in alternating tones of blue and gold. Their color is warm, deep, and Alec can’t stop shifting the ring so that the light catches deep inside the gems.

It’s a mix of _them_ and Alec hopes the sentiment comes across. Blue for warlocks, gold for shadowhunters, winding shades of love and marriage and a happily ever after that Alec never could’ve dreamt up.

He doesn’t bat an eye at the final bill, at the several zeroes rounding out the total, instead swiping his credit card with an almost giddy satisfaction.

He’d pay that price a hundred times over if it meant the finished product would give him the same happiness and sense of jittery anticipation.

Alec’s ready for this. Half of him thinks that he’s never been ready for anything else as much as he’s ready to be the other half of Mr. Lightwood-Bane.

Just the thought of the name makes him shudder, an almost overwhelming weight settling over his shoulders.

It’s a welcome weight though because it means that this _matters_. This is the biggest gesture of Alec’s life but he’s so, so ready for that next step.

As Alec walks out of the jeweler’s, box secured in his pocket, his mind spins with plans.

He’s been brainstorming proposals for ages and now that he has the ring, there’s nothing else holding him back from asking Magnus the biggest question of his life.

Once, ages ago, Magnus had said in a cold, bitter voice, _Marriage is a wonderful institution, not that I should know_.

As Alec walks home, ring a heavy presence in his pocket, he vows to show Magnus just how wonderful marriage can be.

 _Please say yes_ , Alec prays to every angel he can name and a few more besides. He continues on his way, lost in thought and so damn happy he wonders how a body's supposed to contain it all.

**Author's Note:**

> catch me on tumblr or twitter @carmenlire!


End file.
